Afterlife
by RadicalMGuy
Summary: [CANCELLED - It's been too long, I may revisit someday with a fresh new direction] When someone has been dead for more than a year... you do not expect to see them in your house, let alone hear what they have to say. "Shadow... help us. Something is happening here... something really, really bad"
1. Prologue: Mourn

**Prologue: Mourn**

A year has gone by... a whole twelve months... since the death of Sonic the Hedgehog.

I guess we all should have seen it coming. The lifestyle he lived was so risk-driven that he was bound to end up this way someday. Still, it disappoints me that I'll never be able to race that faker again.

As the Ultimate Life Form (not to brag or anything), its hard to find anyone or anything that can even dream of competing with me. That's why, as much as I hate to admit it, Sonic was the best possible rival for me. And it took me 50 years to find this perfect competition, and it'll be another damn fifty until it might happen again.

So, as much as I have tried (and succeeded for the most part) in hiding it, there is no denying that I greatly miss the hedgehog.

That damn Eggman took it too far, and now he's in jail for the rest of his life. Good riddance, you will not be missed. Leaving Sonic locked in a room set to explode can only allow his escape so many times... a fake Chaos Emerald could not save him forever.

As I reflected on this, the phone began to ring on the hallway table, directly across from my bedroom door.

Slightly startled, I threw the blankets off of my body and sat up on my bed. I struggled briefly to find my slippers then walked into the hallway to answer the call.

"Hello?" I said, lifting the handset to my ear.

A familiar voice resonated over the line, "Shadow?" it inquired, "It's Amy..."

I tossed the phone to my other hand. "Ah, Amy... I was wondering when you would call again,"

"Sorry, did I wake you up? You sound a little raspy."

I laughed and said, "I always sound raspy Amy, that's my voice."

"Hm." She seemed puzzled... perhaps I sounded odd today. I cleared my throat just in case.

"It doesn't matter, okay?" I said impatiently, "Why did you call?"

"Well... I had a lot of fun last night... and I don't have a date for Rouge's party," she rambled, "So, I was kinda wondering if you wanted to come with me there... it's next Friday by the way. What do you say?"

I double checked my mental calendar, then responded with, "Yes, I suppose"

"Great," she said, "Call me later if anything comes up, I have to go... bye!"

I was about to say "Goodbye" when a little "click" sounded from her end of the line, indicating that she had hung up already and there was no need. I returned the phone to its cradle and began to walk back towards my bedroom.

I opened the door to see Sonic the Hedgehog sitting on my bed. Chills ran up my spine.

"Hey, Shadow... it's been a long time."

* * *

**AN: This crazy idea occurred to me at 3:00am, and I just had to write it before I forgot... enjoy! Hint: Each chapter may or may not be from a different character's perspective**


	2. Chapter 1: Death

**Chapter 1: Death**

Death is certainly not what you would expect.

I never thought I'd discover that before I even turned twenty five years old.

You see, when you die... you move on to a sort of "Void", where everything and everywhere is blank. Empty, yet occupied with the souls of those who have passed on. It's hard to explain... everyone is there, yet they are not. The scenery is merely a product of your imagination. It can be whatever you like.

The way the Void works is simple, from what I've been told. You are given one year in here to reflect. One year to socialize with the souls of other recently deceased people. One year to fully come to understand why and how you died.

During this one year period, you are... "reviewed". Yes, there is a God, and yes, I suppose there is a heaven and a hell. At the end of this year, the decision is made and you are told where you will stay for the rest of eternity. And from what I hear, Hell is not a forgiving place.

I will tell you of my experience in the afterlife, but to do so I must rewind to... before...

...Back to the day I died.

* * *

**One Year Earlier**

It was a cold winter night. No snow was falling, only ice cold rain... drenching the streets and hills with its depression. The sky was gray, the night was dark, and spirits were down.

I was running through the streets of Station Square, covering my face with one hand and holding a Chaos Emerald in the other.

I was angry and not in the mood for a fight tonight. I was having a bad day, mostly from the rain, when I received a call from Amy. When nothing was said over the line before it went dead, I knew she was in trouble.

I got to her house as fast as I could, but I was too late. I was just in time to see Metal Sonic flying off, holding a screaming Amy Rose in his cold, metal hands.

Instantly I took off in pursuit of him but I was too slow. Eggman must have upgraded the robot, as he was much faster than me. Angry and cold, I trudged back to her house to see if there was any hint of what happened.

When I entered her place, I was greeted by one of Eggman's stupid flying screen things. With a "click" it powered on and his sneering face appeared on the screen.

"Haha Sonic," he said, "There's no way you'll catch up to my ship now."

He turned the camera so I could see a terrified Amy gagged and trapped in a glass container in the back of the room.

"You'll never get here before I harvest her," Eggman said confidently, turning the camera back to his face, "You see, people who have come into contact with Chaos Emeralds have a trace of the jewel's power left in them. I'm going to extract it from her, alive or dead. This Chaos Fuel is the new power source for Metal Sonic, and I'm afraid he's running low!" He laughed maniacally.

I punched the screen in frustration and set off to find the Doctor's ship. One thing he did not anticipate was that I had a Chaos Emerald, meaning I could use it to follow the traces left by the Chaos Fuel Metal Sonic burned off.

Taking out the Emerald, I squeezed it in my hand and a red trail appeared before me. I instantly sprinted along this trail, breaking the sound barrier in the process.

Soon I was led to where Metal Sonic must have turned off his engine, as the trail ended. I desperately searched for Eggman's ship, and finally glimpsed it on the horizon. I quickly changed direction and headed towards it.

Using a spindash, I broke through the hull of the ship like it was paper, then headed off towards the cockpit.

Finally I had arrived at the entrance to the head of the ship. I kicked down the door and looked around to see Amy's container in the corner.

"AMY!" I yelled, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fi-" She suddenly appeared surprised. "Behind you!" She covered her eyes with her hands.

I spun around just in time to block a kick from Metal Sonic. I was far outmatched, each one of the blows I was throwing was deflected.

Slowly, I began to succumb to the damage Metal did and eventually I collapsed to the ground. I attempted to roll away, but I wasn't fast enough to avoid his foot stamping on my head.

Exhausted, I let the darkness overcome me.

...

I finally awoke from my slumber. I shook my head to disperse some of the grogginess, quickly regaining my senses. I looked up to see that I too was trapped in a container similar to Amy's. I banged on the glass pointlessly.

Eggman walked into the room. "Look who's up!" he boasted, "Did you have a good sleep?"

"You bastard!" I growled, "I oughta-"

Eggman laughed. "Here's what's gonna happen. I've decided that either one of you have enough Chaos Fuel to keep Metal running for a long, long time," he said, pacing between our cages.

"Here's the deal... I'm a fair guy. I'll let you choose which one of you I harvest. The other will be left to die as this ship crashes," said Eggman, "Choose wisely."

Without contemplating it for a second, I said "Amy lives." I fought back laughter as I remembered the Chaos Emerald in my back pocket. I'll Chaos Control out of here!

Robotnik grinned. "Very well." he said, "Take her away!"

Metal Sonic appeared through a door in the back of her container and whisked her away.

Just then I realized everything would turn out alright.

...Or so I thought.

* * *

Bound and gagged, I was being held captive by Dr. Robotnik. The bastard had captured me earlier that day and I was now stuck watching him gloat to Sonic, who had been captured too.

"Here's the deal... I'm a fair guy. I'll let you choose which one of you I harvest. The other will be left to die as this ship crashes," said Eggman, "Choose wisely."

My eyes went wide as he said that statement. "Save yourself!" I wanted to say, but I was gagged. Sadly, I knew who Sonic would choose before he even said it.

"Amy lives."

I held back tears as I watched my love take the fall for me. Just then, a door opened behind me and Metal Sonic removed me from my cage.

I never got to say goodbye.

Metal brought me to Eggman's base, where I was tied to chair in front of a screen. Metal removed my gag.

"LET ME GO YOU BASTARD!" I said, "WE HAD A DEAL!" I struggled with my ropes, but it was no use.

Eggman appeared next to me. "I'll let you go alright, but I thought you wanted to see this first!" He pressed a button and a camera appeared on the screen, focusing on Sonic in his cage.

When Sonic saw that the camera was recording him, he laughed and laughed. Confused, I looked to Eggman who seemed to be slightly puzzled. Laughing, Sonic took out a Chaos Emerald he had with him. Yes! I knew he'd do it.

I saw Sonic grin, and he said "CHAOS... CONTROL!"... but nothing happened.

At that moment, Eggman laughed.

I then realized Sonic was doomed.

He must have tried it a hundred times. He pounded on the walls with his fists until they bled. He spindashed and kicked until he couldn't move anymore. Bloodied and bruised on the floor, he gave up. At this point I was in tears, crying so hard I could barely breathe.

The countdown reached 10 seconds.

5 seconds.

I could not cry anymore. My tear ducts were dehydrated.

4...

Sonic tried one last time to spindash through the wall.

3...

He stood in the center of the screen, hopelessly defeated.

2...

Just then, Sonic's face turned into a look of near-relief. I was confused at first, then I realized. He was done with this life. He was finished. He was free.

He turned to the camera, and mouthed "I love you Amy."

1...

The video feed turned to static.

...

Sonic the Hedgehog was no more.

* * *

**AN: Had fun writing this chapter! Sorry, it took longer then expected due to 2 rewrites. The first time I was going to continue chronologically from the Prologue in Sonic's POV. The second time I wrote this chapter in dialogue form as Sonic told it to someone else in the Void. Neither satisfied me, so here we are! I hope you enjoyed!**

**Thank you Angry Little Birdie, RQRGJM9311, lunarprincess21 and "Ashton" for the positive feedback, I really appreciate it!**

**Please leave a review, I will continue to shout out to each review at the end of every chapter.**


	3. Chapter 2: Communication

**Chapter 2: Communication**

5... 4... 3... 2...

"I love you Amy."

1...

* * *

**One year later...**

So that's the story of how I died… I can't believe I've been here for a year already.

A year full of regret... regret for not telling her before. I feel like I've left the world unfulfilled... empty. I feel like I haven't finished what I started... I don't belong here.

I thought about the people I'd left behind. All of my friends... mourning over my death.

And somehow... I could hear them.

"_Knuckles, I wish Sonic could see the Tornado now!"_

"_I miss him so much...!"_

"_Pass the orange juice, dude."_

"_Angel Island... more like Devil Island... stuck here guarding this stupid thing!"_

At first, I thought I was hallucinating. I thought I had lost it. My mind was inventing dialogue of those who I was closest to; imagining what they might be saying back on Earth.

But then, I realized the truth. I had taken the blue Chaos Emerald with me into the Void. It was still in my pocket... I had carried it with me into death! This was certainly an anomaly that I never even considered.

Through days of careful observation, I realized I was hearing the voices of those near other Chaos Emeralds. Occasionally I'd catch bits of Charmy or Vector speaking as they visited Tails. I'd hear Rouge flirt with Shadow sometimes.

I deduced that the connection between the Chaos Emeralds was carrying nearby sounds to my emerald. They still shared a connection through different dimensions.

From what I've heard, I believe that Amy, Tails, and Shadow had three of the other six emeralds, and I could hear Knuckles as he guarded the Master Emerald.

As I pondered this, something caught my attention. My emerald suddenly began to glow yellow. I picked it up out of curiosity.

Then, my vision went black.

...

Where am I?

Is this... Tails' workshop? I looked around some more... it definitely was the fox's building room. The Tornado towered over me, recently renovated and now painted a bright shade of green.

What the hell? How did this happen? ...Am I dreaming?

Suddenly, a loud yell sounded from behind me.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" yelled a distressed Tails.

I turned around to face the fox.

Tails nearly fainted. "...Sonic!"

"I know this may be surprising..."

"B-b-but...!" Tails trailed off and turned a ghastly shade of white.

"Tails... I'm not actually here... or maybe I am? ...I'm not exactly sure. I do know, however, that I'm speaking to you through our Chaos Emeralds... I brought one with me into death. Their connection lets me speak with you. I think you picking up your emerald was what brought me here."

Tails remained quiet as he absorbed what I was saying, looking repeatedly at the yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand.

"So... you're talking to me from the afterlife?" he finally asked.

I sighed. "I suppose so."

His eyes teared up.

"...Did it hurt?"

"Not one bit." I laughed.

Tails slightly smiled. I could tell he was skeptical about this.

"We have some catching up to do..."

I smiled. "Maybe later. I have a request for you."

Tails perked up. "What is it?" he inquired.

"I need you to get Amy to touch her Chaos Emerald," I said, "...but one thing..."

"Don't tell her why. She won't believe you."

Once again, my vision faded to black.

...

Opening my eyes, I was back in the Void, it seems.

Now... time to wait.

I set down my emerald and anxiously waited for the pink glow that would make everything alright.

I hope.

* * *

**...Meanwhile?**

_I was about to say "Goodbye" when a little "click" sounded from her end of the line, indicating that she had hung up already and there was no need. I returned the phone to its cradle and began to walk back towards my bedroom._

_I opened the door to see Sonic the Hedgehog sitting on my bed. Chills ran up my spine._

_"Hey, Shadow... it's been a long time."_

The hedgehog's sudden appearance was extremely nerve wracking. Sure, I had been just thinking of him, but was it coincidence or fate that he showed up now?

"Shadow... I came here for an important reason." said Sonic.

"But... how?" I asked. I would like to be able to know in case I ever die. Ha. Likely.

Sonic sighed impatiently. "I don't have time to explain. Shadow, help us. Something is happening here... something really, really bad."

I raised an eyebrow. "In the afterlife?" I inquired.

"Shadow... I can't explain because it won't make much sense. But there's only one thing you have to do for me." said Sonic.

I frowned. "And what's that?"

"Find Eggman. He knows."

Sonic disappeared.

Eggman... great.

* * *

**AN: Hope you enjoyed.**

**Thanks to Lopenash for the reviews.**

**The plot thickens :P**

**Please leave a review, I will continue to shout out to each review at the end of every chapter.**


	4. Chapter 3: Possessed

**Chapter 3 - Possessed**

Ugh… why do I have to find Eggman? Bastard's still in jail, last I heard. And what do I do when I get there? I'm guessing it's self explanatory since Sonic didn't tell me. Whatever.

Anyways, I guess I need to find out what prison he's in. Why Sonic couldn't at least tell me THAT, is anybody's guess. I'd swear the faker's just trying to make this harder for me.

Now… how to find out. Hmm… I guess I could head to the library and look in the newspaper archives to see where he was incarcerated. It was headlining news for days when Sonic was killed and the Egghead became the most wanted man in Station Square.

As I stood up to go to the library, my phone rang. I hesitated for a moment, then picked it up.

"What?" I said impatiently to whoever had the misfortune of needing to call me at that moment.

"Uhh… Shadow, it's Knuckles," he said awkwardly, "Hey… you need to come to the workshop RIGHT now, it's important."

"I don't have time for…" I paused. Suddenly, I had a great idea. "Knuckles, do you happen to know what jail Robotnik is in?" I asked.

"Uhm, yeah, he was in…" Knuckles paused for a few moments. "Actually, I'm not going to tell you."

I raised an eyebrow in frustration. "Yeah! And why's that!" I spat.

"Because we both know if I tell you what you need to know, you will hang up," he said, "And I can't let you hang up, you seriously need to come here right now."

Who does this echidna think he is! "Why I oughta…"

"Just get over here… now." Knuckles said.

I sighed. "This better be important." I growled as I threw the phone onto the cradle.

Knuckles wants to play games with me? Fine…

…Because nobody plays hardball like Shadow the Hedgehog.

* * *

It took me only a couple of minutes to run to the workshop. Not a personal best, but still impressive, I must say. The Ultimate Life Form must live up to such a title, I suppose.

I opened the door to find Knuckles bloody and bruised, with Tails tied up in a chair behind him, out cold.

"What the hell happened here?" I said, observing the broken contents of Tails workshop scattered all over the room.

Knuckles winced as he stood up. "Tails tried to kill me. He called me over, saying he needed help. When I arrived, he tried put that knife," he said as he gestured towards a bloody object on the ground, "Right into my heart."

Knuckles kicked the knife away. "I managed to fight him off," he said, "And I called you because I need backup just in case he's still screwed up when he regains consciousness."

Weird, I thought to myself. What the hell would make Tails try to kill his best friend?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him start to move.

"Urgh…" Tails said groggily, "Where the hell am I?"

He attempted to stand and realized he was restrained. He struggled for a moment, then decided to survey his surroundings. A look of confusion arose in his face when he noticed us there.

"Knuckles? Shadow? What the hell are you guys doing! Let me go!" he said, struggling to break free from the ropes.

I scowled. "Shut up, foxboy!" I growled. "You attacked Knuckles with a goddamn knife, and you're not going anywhere until you have a damn good explanation as to why!"

Tails looked confused and scared. "I never did anything like that… I swear!" he weeped, "Why would I do that to you!"

"That's what we're trying to find out!" Knuckles said, "Now tell us what the hell you were doing!"

Tails started to cry. "I swear to God, I didn't do it!" he sobbed, "I was…"

I interrupted him by kicking over my chair. "You're lying! Give me one reason to believe you!" I said.

He murmured something unintelligible.

"No more games!" I yelled as I grabbed his shoulders, "Speak the hell up!"

"I was… I was talking to Sonic!" he said.

I released him. Normally, I would think he's gone completely insane, but considering I saw Sonic only a few hours before, I was inclined to believe him.

"What do you mean you were talking to Sonic!" Knuckles asked, "That's bullshit!"

"He's telling the truth," I said, "I can tell."

Knuckles grasped his head in confusion. "And how exactly did you speak to somebody who's dead!" he said.

"I just picked up my Chaos Emerald, and then our minds sorta connected," he said, "And he told me we could talk through the Chaos Emeralds!"

Knuckles' brow furrowed in deep thought. "Are you sure?" he said.

"I'm positive, it must've been real," Tails said, "there's no way I imagined it."

I stayed silent. The details of Sonic's visit to me don't seem to match with his, so I can't tell him that he visited me too. He'll think I'm making it up. Instead, I think I have an idea of what happened with Tails. I'd seen something similar once before, long ago.

"There's only one explanation then," I said.

Tails looked up. "What's that?" he said.

I clenched my fists. "While your mind was with Sonic's… somebody else must have taken over your body…" I theorized.

"Tails… you were possessed."

* * *

Tails went silent for a moment as the implications of this settled in his mind. "Are you sure?" he said, "Can that even be done? How can someone possess me!"

"I've seen it once before," I said, "In one of the experiments in the Space Colony ARK."

"But… how!" Knuckles asked.

I turned around to face the window, looking towards the sky. My home was up there somewhere… Maria was up there somewhere. I took a deep breath to calm myself, then began.

"Not long after I was created… Gerald Robotnik started another experiment. He believed that the connection between Chaos Emeralds could be used to facilitate conversation over long distances." I said, "After a few failed attempts, they realized it was possible, given one condition. At least one of the people with the Chaos Emeralds had to have their mind separated from their body… the brain wasn't strong enough to use the Chaos Energy and control muscles and senses at same time."

"So that's why Sonic is able to do this… because his consciousness left his body when he died, right?" Tails asked.

"Probably…" I said, "Now don't interrupt me again."

"So, a volunteer, Jason, was placed into a medically-induced coma holding a Chaos Emerald, therefore freeing their mind from their body. Once this was done, anybody else who touched a Chaos Emerald could connect their mind to his. The test was successful," I said, "However, this wasn't enough for crazy, old Gerald. When someone was in a conversation with Jason, an empty shell of a body was left behind until the conversation was over. Jason still had his mind in his body, but the person conversing with him would leave their body to join his consciousness. Gerald theorized that these empty bodies could be controlled by another person."

I flipped my chair upright and sat down. "So one day," I continued, "Gerald connected the minds of Jason and Maria. And while they were under, he had me pick up another Chaos Emerald. Immediately, I was sent into Maria's body. I had complete control of everything, but I felt immediately weaker because her muscles have much less mass then mine. However, I was amazed to discover that I had much more thought power, because I now had two brains under my control. The results were incredible."

Knuckles pondered this and said, "If this experiment produced such good results, why wasn't it ever released?"

"Because, the very next week, G.U.N. raided the ARK, and everybody involved was killed. Everyone… but me," I said.

There was a long silence as Knuckles and Tails absorbed all that was said.

Knuckles finally broke the silence. "So... what do we do now?"

I stood up. "I have a feeling Eggman knows something about this. It's time to pay the doctor a little visit." I said, cracking my knuckles.

"Oh, I almost forgot you asked earlier," said Knuckles. "He was recently transferred to Station Square Penitentiary, actually."

I nodded. "I think I'll be off then."

"Are we coming with you?" said Tails.

"No, you guys should start hunting out the remaining Emeralds... start figuring out who's at risk for possession before it gets out of hand."

Knuckles and Tails nodded in unison.

And with that, we departed.

* * *

**AN: I'm so sorry about the wait guys, I just kind of forgot about the story hahaha. I'll start updating again, possibly get another fic going. Maybe something Xmas related... Anyways, thank you for the reviews "Bulma The Mistress Of Bitchin", SeraiTheGoldenDragon, Deadasday, and lunarprincess21!**


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